Tokyo Peacebuilders Symposium 2008
"Peacebuilding Experience and Knowledge from Asia to the World"

UN House, Tokyo, March 24-25, 2008
Co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and United Nations University (UNU)

Peacebuilding is one of the major challenges facing today's global community. Japan, in close cooperation with the ASEAN and other Asian countries, launched a pilot program to train civilian peacebuilders in Asia, with strong support from leading countries, international organizations and training institutions in this field. The program started in September 2007 in Hiroshima. The trainees completed their coursework at the end of October and are undergoing overseas practical training in conflict-affected countries before they graduate in March 2008.

Japan is committed to contributing to peacebuilding in the world. It has been serving as Chair of United Natoins Peacebuilding Commission since June 2007. In 2008, Japan will host the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICADIV) in May and the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in July to address pressing global issues including peacebuilding.

Prime Minister Fukuda stated in his policy speech in January this year that Japan would actively address global challenges and play a responsible role in the international community as a "Peace Fostering Nation" which contributes to peace and development in the world. He also stated that Japan aspires to become a hub of human resource development as well as making research and intellectual contributions to further promote cooperation in the field of peacebuilding.

The United Nations University has a strong record of research, publishing and capacity-building in various elements of peacebuilding: strengthening democratic institutions, ensuring security sector reform and balancing criminal justice with reconciliation. Its Peace and Governance Programme initiated a series of capacity building workshops in countries currently on the list of the Peacebuilding Commission.

It is against this background that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and the United Nations University decided to launch the "Tokyo Peacebuilders Symposium" to be held at UNU Headquarters on March 24-25, 2008, with the broad participation of peacebuilding practitioners and academics from Asia and other regions of the world, to feed into global peacebuilding efforts. We would like to draw various insights and suggestions from the participants of this symposium on contributing to peacebuilding from an Asian perspective and strengthening the regional and global networks in this field. We welcome your participation in this event.

Languages: English and Japanese (Simultaneous Translation Provided)Participation Fee: Free

Registration: Since the numbers of seats available are different between Day 1 and Day 2, registrations of Day 1 and Day 2 are made separately. If you wish to attend the symposium, please apply on http://www.bees-inter.co.jp/registration.html . A Participants' Identification Form will be returned by e-mail. Please bring the print-out of that Form together with your identification card to the reception of the symposium. Registration is made on a first-come first-served basis. We appreciate the understanding of those whose registration could not be met due to the limited number of seats available.

If you have any questions about this symposium, please contact International Peace Cooperation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (+81-3-5501-8214).